Dawn of a Hero
by pandaskis
Summary: Reposted version of I Settle the Score. Of course, Percy and Annabeth knew their relationship would never be easy. Still, the problems they had to face together were much bigger than they'd ever expected. Reader Discretion is advised. Flames accepted.


A/N: Just like _Percy's Thoughts, _this is another story I'm reposting because—despite the fact I personally _hate _this—there are some people out there that liked this story. So, for those of you that enjoy OOC, clichéd Percabeth, read on…I guess. Flames are absolutely accepted.

--Pandaskis xoxo

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Percy

Another summer had gone by. Annabeth and I were walking around camp for the last time—until next summer, that is. The atmosphere was nice and easy, because it just so happened that it was my birthday, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't have to worry about getting older and having to face "the prophecy". We were mostly talking about the usual stuff; the end of camp and the start of school. It got to a point were Annabeth began mentioning that she was transferring schools.

"Where to?" I asked as I kicked a rock. She smiled, the late afternoon sun making her famous gray-blonde hair seem golden as she twirled it around her fingers. She didn't seem to notice or care; her hair was knotty to begin with, so I guess twirling it like that didn't make much of a difference.

"My dad found me a cool boarding school in New York," Annabeth told me as we passed the Big House. "It's great got some fantastic architectural programs; at least that's what it says in the brochure."

I stopped to look at her. "An architectural school?"

She smiled and nodded. "Tuition is already paid for and everything."

I was surprised for about a minute, and then I remembered that I had to react. Then, I also remembered that I could hardly contain my excitement. "Seriously?" I said dumbly, as though I didn't believe her. "You're going to be living _in New York_?"

Annabeth sighed, then nodded and smiled.

I tried to be casual, but on the inside, I was… exploding with happiness, to be honest. Annabeth and I have been best friends since…well, a while. I only ever got to see her over the summer, and if you were me, believe me, you would also have had a hard time trying not to hug her and yell "thank you!" to the gods.

I don't exactly know why, but my mind then suddenly flashed to Mt. Saint Helen's; you know, where I had my first kiss with Annabeth. Well, I guess you really couldn't call it an affectionate kiss; I was literally about to die (possibly), so I guess Annabeth's kiss was more of a blessing or something so I wouldn't screw up than actual _kiss_, if you know what I mean.

"Umm, Percy?" Annabeth called, her voice sounding like it was on the other side of the world, "You okay?"

"Hmmm?" I merely grunted, my brain miles away; 3,000 miles away at Mt. Saint Helen's, to be exact. I was still dwelling on the kiss when Annabeth clapped her hands in front of me; it was only then I remembered that I probably looked very, _very _dazed and strange. I quickly tried to act as if I hadn't just been daydreaming about us making out, but I wasn't fooling anyone; Annabeth gave me a weird look.

"What's got you?" she asked; she sounded both concerned and….almost freaked out, really.

"Oh, nothing," I quickly said, trying to think of a way to change the subject. My mind came up blank.

"Just spit it out seaweed brain," Annabeth softly said. The way she spoke, you would have thought she would have said something like, 'It's okay, you can tell me Percy.' 'Just spit it out seaweed brain,' would more be something Annabeth would say as she slapped me.

Dumbly, I just mumbled, asking Annabeth if she was going to say happy birthday to me again or something really retarded like that.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Quit trying to change the subject. What is it?"

Trying to sound as sincere as possible, I just said "Oh, it's no big deal."

I guess I didn't sound sincere enough, because Annabeth wasn't buying it. "Then it's _obviously _something."

I sighed, frustrated. "No, it's seriously just nothing." The words came out a little harsher than I meant, and Annabeth—being the smart ass she is—didn't miss it.

She laughed. "Did I ever mention that you're a terrible liar?"

I sighed. There was no denying it; Annabeth could see right through me.

I thought my options over for a second; the way I saw it, I had three options.

Option One: I make up some really lame story and try to wear Annabeth's prying down. Although that would take a very long time and a lot of willpower, it would buy me some time to sort my hormone-high feelings.

It could work.

Option Two: I could just continue keeping up the whole "just friends" act. I've been doing that for a while now; what difference would it make?

It couldn't be too hard.

Option Three: I could surrender and just flat-out admit that I liked Annabeth more than just a friend. I would have closure, and although the rejection would sting—_a lot, _no doubt—I would finally come clean.

It would hurt, sure; but I couldn't run away from my feelings any longer. I had to fess-up.

"Well," I started, not exactly sure where to begin; where was I _supposed _to? I thought of when it started to become obvious that I liked Annabeth a little more as a friend; I racked my terrible memory for any good marking point. I finally managed to decide that Mt. Saint Helen's would be the best place to start. "You remember last summer; you know, when we were at Mt. Saint Helen's?"

Annabeth nodded slowly; hopefully, she had gotten the message already, and I would be spared of any more uncomfortable explaining. "You mean when you put me through a mental breakdown?"

That sort of surprised me; Annabeth blushed, realizing I hadn't known how distraught she was before I had risked my life. I felt a little more comfortable, knowing that Annabeth had cared more than she had previously expressed. It was nice to know that I had some hope.

"Yeah…I guess that was it."

She gave me a suspicious look. "What about it?"

I took a deep breath.

"Well, erm…you know how…" my voice trailed off, because I saw Annabeth's face turn a brilliant shade of red.

"Oh," she said, trying to sound nonchalant (but failing ultimately), "right. That."

I nodded very slowly. We both just stopped and stood there, as awkward as ever. The uncomfortable silence hung over us; there was so much to say, yet I had no clue where to begin. I guess Annabeth didn't either, so we were both quiet for what seemed like a long time. I noticed how much Annabeth changed over the years; she's gone from pretty to…well, just flat-out hot, to be honest. She looked especially hot at the time since she was embarrassed.

"So," Annabeth started, finally breaking the silence and looking down at her sneakers, "what does it mean now?"

I felt my heart sink; if she thought that our kiss was a big deal to her, then she definitely was doing a great job of hiding it. I thought of how to best put it lightly myself, but came up blank.

"Well," I began, "what does it mean to you?"

The blood rushed back to her face, and I felt a glimmer of hope in the pit of my stomach.

"What does it mean to me?" she asked, her voice sounding so monotonic that it was almost robotic. She was careful not to look me in the eye. I moved my face a bit closer to hers to see what her reaction was. She didn't turn her head.

"Yeah," I said nearly in her ear. She flinched, and involuntarily snapped her head towards me. She quickly turned away, but I was able to see in her face that she was trying not to break down.

"Does it honestly matter?" she said, trying to sound fierce and confident. Instead, she sounded weak; like she could snap at any minute. She tried to keep a poker face, but I knew that it was hard for her. I was wearing her down.

"It matters to me," I said slowly, hoping I'd picked a good choice of words.

"But why?" she suddenly whispered; she sounded very, very small. She slowly turned her head to face mine and looked me dead in the eye; it was illuminated with hope, fear, and…longing, almost. I felt my expression soften, and the tension leave my face.

From there, I surrendered. That was just a breaking point for me; why act like I don't have feelings for her when I _do; _especially when she—hopefully—has feelings for me too. And, even if she didn't, I didn't care any more. I liked Annabeth, and that was it. No matter how unattractive she found me, and no matter how much the rejection may hurt, I _had _to know the truth.

"Because I…" my voice trailed off; I was trying to find the right way to tell her the truth, and at the same time mentally preparing myself for some form of rejection. Although I was looking Annabeth in the eye—and not daring to look away— I could see that the light around us was beginning to fade, and so was the distance between my face and hers, as corny as that may sound.

With a look of fear on her face, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Are you trying to say you want to kiss me again?"

Annabeth's whisper was so quiet, I was surprised that I was able to hear it; then again, maybe I didn't. Maybe I had just read her lips; after all, they were so close to mine, I could feel her breath on my chin.

Either way, it was enough of an invitation for me to bring my lips to hers.

At that moment, I didn't _care _that I had ambush kissed her; it all just didn't matter to me. But, once I felt her lips moving in sync with mine, and I could taste her breath, everything mattered. No, that's not true; _she _mattered more than everything. I felt gravity pull us together, as if Aphrodite herself were weaving and working some kind of magic; it just _had_ to be work of the gods.

Either that or I had gone completely insane.

After what seemed like a while—but was still not long enough—Annabeth slowly detached her lips from mine, keeping her head down and eyes closed. Her forehead was touching my chin, and she slowly brought her hands up to her mouth. She skimmed her index finer along her upper lip gently, as if to inspect that her lips were still intact. She moved her head back and opened her eyes, not looking at me. Instead, she stared across the Sound, looking at the setting sun.

The moment lasted for much, much longer than a moment. Time itself seemed to just disappear altogether. I looked at her composed face, which was suddenly miles away. A look of tension spread across her face, and I felt my gut do a flip-flop. She furrowed her brow and bit her lip, as if she was debating what she was going to say. Slowly, she turned to face me. I closed my eyes, not being able to look in her stormy gray irises.

I braced myself for rejection.

"You aren't doing this just so you can get laid, are you?"

I opened my eyes—realizing I probably looked like a total idiot—and saw that the tension was broken; there was sarcasm in her expression, and underneath her fake pout, there was a smug grin stretched across her face.

I raised my arms in defense as I tried to hide a smile. "No!" I exclaimed. "That is . . . only if _you_ don't want—"

Annabeth socked me in the arm and laughed as she ran off into the darkening field. "You better catch up!" I watched her for a moment, savoring the moment. She moved quickly and fluidly, with a grace I had never seen before. After a minute of just standing there, it dawned on me that if I didn't go after her soon, she might go out of eye-shot.

I couldn't help laughing as I ran after her, tripping every step of the way.

* * *

A/N: Ahhh….like I said, I really hate this story. It was my first _real _fanfic (that I posted about a year ago), so of course it sucks. Then again, I figured that it's not fair to keep this lying around my laptop when I have people that could enjoy this. Flames are absolutely accepted.

--Pandaskis xoxo


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